Pampered But Sick

I woke up this morning with a horribly sore throat. Where did this come from?? Every swallow felt like broken glass. This put a big damper on my running and yoga plans, but I'm hoping with lots of fluids and sleep I'll be back at it tomorrow. Unfortunately, this also put a damper on my challah making plans. Looking forward to baking this week. In the meantime, Fred has been showing me a lot of TLC.

Perhaps my illness is retribution for my fun filled day yesterday. After an intense yoga class, we went to Fashion Valley where I had a free Orlane facial at Neiman Marcus. I was taken to a secret room where I was pampered like a wealthy older French woman (Orlane is a French skincare brand). For about an hour, many luxurious products were lathered on my face, neck, and hands, and at the end my skin felt like a million bucks. Unfortunately, nothing comes for free as I was subsequently guilted into buying a few products. Trickery! Afterwards, Ryan and I walked around and checked out the new Barney's Co-op that opened this weekend. I came close to buying a Vince top but was able to reel myself in with Ryan's help. I did confirm that my GoldSign jeans are a size too big by trying on the correct size in the store. Sigh. Lastly, we left the mall and stopped by DSW where I found a cute, very comfortable pair of Modern Vintage pumps at 50% off! Gotta love the clearance racks at DSW. Since it's one of the bigger locations, they frequently have great brands like Prada, Celine, and Marc by Marc Jacobs at sharp discounts. Be prepared to dig.

After shopping, we met up with Kevin and Leslie for dinner in Linda Vista. Leslie's Thai friend recommended a restaurant there as having delicious and authentic food. While I thought the food was spot on, I can't say the same for decor or ambience. The place was tiny with only four or five small tables. Definitely worthy of take out, but not of sit in dining. I ordered tom yum soup, a green curry with beef, and a thai iced tea. The tom yum was one of the best I've ever had!

On a side note, I'm on my company's new careers website. A few months ago, HR asked some of us to participate in a campaign to better brand the company to potential employees. They had a photographer and videographer come in to take photos and conduct interviews to be used on this website and elsewhere. As far as I know, they used clips of my interview on this site and on the presentation they will show to all new-hires. I'm also on the Marketing newsletter. Great. Not only did they put way too much makeup on me, but I look slightly sweaty. Welcome to Illumina.